The creation accounts in Genesis are of utmost importance when discussing gender relations within the Church. “Creation order” is a foundational claim of complementarians, who root their beliefs in the idea that since man was created first, it means that men must lead women. But does Genesis truly reveal a God-ordained male headship through creation order? A close look into the creation account will provide us with a fuller understanding of God’s intentions for men and women.

Genesis 1:27 states that, “God created mankind in His own image, in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them”. Verse 28 goes on to say that God blessed “them” and spoke to “them”. This is the first mention of mankind. It’s important to see that male and female are mentioned, and the blessing that was bestowed on “them”.

The Hebrew word used for mankind in verse 27 is “‘adam” which refers to humanity as a whole [1].

We don’t see the proper noun, Adam, used until Genesis 4:25, so this common noun refers to the whole human race. One thing that is important to note is that the Hebrew language does not contain a gender neutral pronoun, therefore the word mankind was used.

Many complementarians do not refer to Genesis 1 in the formation of their doctrine, unless it is to make the announcement that God created Adam first, not necessarily acknowledging the fact that the more accurate definition of ‘adam would be humankind. Egalitarians find Genesis 1 to be very telling of God’s heart for equality because these verses make it clear that both men and women were created in God’s image, after which he blessed them.

Today Gail has a guest post up on the Sophia Network website, a group in the U.K. with a similar mission the The Junia Project. Here are the first few paragraphs and a link to the full post. While you’re there, check out the other great articles featured and sign up for their monthly newsletter!

I have a three-year-old granddaughter who loves to be read to.

When I start reading she always pays close attention, but sometimes when we get to the middle she abruptly closes the book, because she already knows how the story ends and is ready to move on to something new.

I realized recently that I have been guilty of doing the same thing when it comes to understanding what it means to be made in the image of God (Imago Dei) and the implications this has for gender equality. That is, my understanding of Imago Dei has been based almost entirely on the creation narratives of Genesis. In these first pages of the Bible there is true equality between the first man and the first woman. Both Adam and Eve are image bearers who equally reflect their Creator, both are under the authority of that creator alone, and both are given the mandate to fill the earth and have dominion over it.

Views on submission exist on a continuum, but generally speaking, egalitarians support mutual submission in marriage, and church leadership based on giftedness rather than gender; while complementarians support the unilateral submission of wives, and predominately male church leadership. Both hold the Bible in high regard – the difference comes in interpretation.